Hair dressing method and device

ABSTRACT

A hair dressing device is shown for producing a simulated braided pattern in long hair by separating a given mass of hair into individual strands for delivery into and through a plurality of individual generally tubular, flexible, guide means that have previously been disposed in an intertwined relationship. The guide means are then adapted to be individually removed endwise over the free ends of the strands which have been drawn into the respective guide means, to leave each strand of hair in the intertwined relationship of the formerly intertwined (not removed) guide means.

[ 1 June 17, 1975 ABSTRACT A hair dressing device is shown for producinga simuspective guide means, to leave each 18 C1aims, 4 Drawing FiguresUnited States Patent Redrow HAIR DRESSING METHOD AND DEVICE [76]Inventor: Allan Raymond Redrow, 4990 Columbus Pike, Apt. 416, Arlington,Va. 22204 [22] Filed: Oct. 16, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 515,150

Field of Search References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1953 11/1969Zaupa.....,. 10/1971 Hall HAIR DRESSING METHOD AND DEVICE BACKGROUND OFTHIS INVENTION In certain areas of activities such as in food servicefacilities, in hospital operating rooms and possibly in other areas ofactivities such as in sports, or in factories where long hair on thehead of a person working around machinery might become entangled withthe moving parts thereof, it is desirable that the long hair be retainedin a cap or other head covering. Where a cap should be used for example,in a kitchen, in sporting activities, or in an unusually warm locationsuch as may be found frequently in factory areas, it is difficult topersuade the person involved to always keep a cap in place on his head.

Further, in some situations for appearance sake, it may be an advantageto have long hair arranged snugly or otherwise in a braided patternaround the head but with the hair uncovered. Especially in windysituations, sports, persons may prefer to have their heads fully exposedbut with their long hair confined during strenuous play without havingto wear a head covering or tight band to hold their hair in place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION The device here disclosed makes useof a plurality of flexible guide means that can be loosely braidedtogether on a fixture or otherwise intertwined in the form of a desiredpattern for the hair. Suitable leader means are associated with eachguide as by being inserted in the guides, which leaders are eachindividually adapted to be attached to the free end of a collectedstrand of the hairs and the leader is then adapted to be pulledlongitudinally through the separate guide tube in the group that hasbeen previously been intertwined.

To use this invention, the hair to be manipulated is first combed andseparated into a number of strands and the free end of each strand isengaged with one of the leaders to be drawn into and through one of therespective guide means. Each separate hair strand is thus led into theintertwined position of its guide with respect to the other guides andtheir hair strands. When all of the strands to be intertwined have beenled into and through their respective guides their leaders are detachedfrom the strands and the tubes are pulled longitudinally off of the freeend of each strand to leave the several hair strands intertwined in thepattern that the guides originally occupied.

The guides are preferably made from flexible plastic tubing and anynumber of the guides may be provided to be braided or twisted into anyone of a number of patterns. The simplest patterns may involveintertwining only two, three or four guides to form a simulated, plaitedarrangement around the back of the head. Many other more diverseintertwisted or braided arrangements of the guides can be producedhowever, to hold the hair firmly but attractively organized duringactive sports participation or to prevent loose hair from flying aroundin commercial kitchens or hospitals and the like.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a method and apparatusfor intertwining strands of hair on the head of a person in a manner tohold it in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and means forarranging strands of hair on the head of a person in a pre-selectedartistic pattern or design to enhance the appearance of a person.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and means forbraiding hair on the head of a person in a tightly organized pattern tohold the hair confined during certain types of activities.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple method andapparatus operable by the user for producing a hair arrangement on theusers own head, that cannot be manually produced.

These and other objects will appear more fully from the specificationbelow.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an illustration showing a simple form of theinvention, with the strands of hair about to be pulled into theintertwined guide means;

FIG. 2 is a view with one of the guides partly broken away and with oneof the strands pulled completely into its respective guide means;

FIG. 3 is a view of the completed hair-do produced by the device shownin FIG. 1, with the guide means removed; and

FIG. 4 is a more complicated design showing two pairs of guidesassembled in a more complicated pattern for leading four strands of hairinto an intertwined position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In its simplest form as shown in FIG. 1, the deviceof this invention makes use of a pair of flexible guide elements l0 and11. These guides are preferably made of a relatively friction-freetubular plastic material and are of such a length that they can beeasily manipulated to produce any desired pattern. As shown in FIG. 1,the two tubular guides 10 and 11 are twisted together in a simplematter.

Each guide has an elongated flexible leader 12 and 13 respectivelythreaded longitudinally through the tube from one end to the other. Theleader may be a nylon cord and each leader has a knotted end for easyengagement to provide for pulling the leader through the tube and at itsopposide end each leader has an engaging means for a strand of hair suchas a hook 14. A suitable spring actuated, compact clamp means or otherfrictional engaging device can be used in place of hook 14. The leadersare situated in the two guides as shown in FIG. 1 to pull a strand ofhair one from each side of the head of the person into the guidearrangement from the opposite ends of the two intertwisted guide means.

To use the device, the hair on the head of the person to be groomed, iscombed and divided into two substantially equal strands at the back andalong the side of the head of the person to be groomed. The strands arepreferably parted slightly as at 20 and 21 near the back of the neckandthe opposite ends of the intertwined guides are inserted in theseopenings. The hair forming one of the strands may then be twistedloosely together to form a generally ropelike integral unit and thehairs at the end 22 of that strand may be bound together with a rubberband to be engaged in hook 14 of leader 13. Similarly, the other strandof hair is twisted loosely together in the same manner and its free end23 is engaged in the hook 14 or other device at the end of leader 12.The end 22 of the one strand of hair is then fed into the open end ofguide 11 and the leader 13 is pulled to draw the strand of hair into andthrough the guide. The end of the guide into which the strand is pulled,may be manually engaged to hold the guide po sitioned properly as thestrand is pulled fully into its engaged position in the guide 11 asshown in FIG. 2. If necessary, engaging means may be attached to theends of the guide means so that they can be held in position in theparted openings 20 and 21 as the second strand of hair from the otherside of the head is pulled into guide 10.

When both strands of hair have been pulled into the intertwined guides,the hooks 14 may be disengaged from ends 22 and 23 of the hair strands.The strands will occupy the intertwisted pattern of their respectiveguides and 11 and then the tubular guides 10 and 11 may be easilyremoved by being slid off the free ends of the now intertwined strandsof hair. The strands will then be held in the pattern as shown in FIG. 3by their frictional engagement one with the other, with the ends 22 and23 of the strands lodged in slits and 21 provided at the bases of therespective stands, which intertwined hair do can be if necessary, heldtogether with bobby pins or other conventional hair holding means.

A more complicated pattern is shown in FIG. 4 wherein a portion of twoguides 30 and 31 are twisted together and are supported in a manner tohold them positioned generally at right angles to the longitudinal axisof another pair of intertwined guides 32 and 33. Referring to FIG. 4, itwill be noted that at about their midpoints, the guides 30 and 31 areparted and the separated ends of these guides are turned in opposidedirections along the axis of guides 32 and 33 to be these guides formingthe other pair to produce an integrated pattern. The assembled guidesare adapted to be held at the back of the head of the person to begroomed and four strands of hair are provided for manipulation throughthis intertwined guide arrangement. Two strands are separated at theback of the head on opposite sides of the crown, one strand beingdelivered through guide 30 by means of a suitable leader and the otherthrough guide 31 by means of its cooperating leader. On the lowerportion of the head and at the back of each side thereof, separatestrands are provided for delivery one from each side of the head into anopposite end of the assembled guides 32 and 33 respectively. The strandsare then pulled by the leader associated with each guide into theintertwisted pattern shown in FIG. 4 whereupon the leaders may beremoved and the flexible tubular guides 30, 31, 32 and 33 can each bepulled off of the respective strands, over the free end of the hairstrand which was pulled into the guide.

It is apparent many designs can be created with any reasonable number ofguides, limited only by the imagination of the designer, it beingnecessary only to intertwist the flexible guide means and their leadersin a loose enough pattern to allow the strands of hair of thatparticular design to be pulled into the predetermined arrangement. Thedesign may be as simple or as complicated as desired but the arrangementshould preferably be operative to intertwist the strands with asufficient degree of frictional engagement to hold the strandsintertwined for the purpose desired.

The method and means for performing the manipulative steps heredescribed can be used by an individual without requiring any assistancefor fixing hair neatly compacted against the head to hold the hair in asanitary manner for Work in all areas where flying hair would beobjectionable. Similarly, in sporting activities,

a rather tightly compacted, firm intertwisted design is preferred, onethat may be further neatly held in place with light weight holdingdevices such as hair pins or the like. For cosmetic purposes, either afew loosely twisted guide means or an intricate design of a number ofguides may be provided to inter-position several strands of hairpreferably in a self supporting, artistic manner.

While the above describes the preferred form of this invention, it isapparent that many modifications thereof may occur to those skilled inthe art, that will fall within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A method for arranging long hair on the head of a person into anintertwined pattern comprising separating that portion of the hair to beintertwined into individual strands that are attached to the head at oneend with the other end of each strand being free, delivering theseparate strands through individual and intertwined guides to intertwinethe strands, and removing the guides from the strands to leave the hairstrands intertwined.

2. A method as in claim 1 wherein the guides are removed from thestrands by sliding the guides over the free ends of the intertwinedstrands.

3. A method as in claim 1 wherein the guides are flexible tubularmembers and the tubes are removed by sliding the tubes endwise over thefree ends of the strands.

4. A method as in claim 1 wherein the individual guides are elongatedand have spaced-apart ends, said guides being disposed to each receive aseparate strand into one of the respective spaced-apart ends of separateones of said intertwined guides, and said strands are delivered throughsaid separate guides.

5. A method as in claim 1 wherein a separate strand in one of saidguides moves in a direction opposite to the direction of movement ofanother of said strands as said strands are delivered through theirrespective guides.

6. A method as in claim 4 wherein the intertwined guides are arranged ina braided pattern and certain of said separate strands move in oppositedirections through adjacent guides relative to the movement of others ofsaid strands in their respective guides.

7. A method as in claim 4 wherein the guides are tubular members and theindividual tubes are removed by sliding the tubes endwise over the freeends of the strands.

8. A method as in claim 7 wherein the guides are flexible, tubularmembers arranged in a braided, intertwisted pattern and separate strandsmove through adjacent guides.

9. A method as in claim 8 wherein the strands move in oppositedirections through adjacent guides.

10. A method as in claim 1 wherein at least one pair of guides areprovided and the hair to be intertwined is divided into a number ofstrands equal to the number of guides.

11. A method as in claim 1 wherein at least three guides are providedand the guides are elongated flexible tubular members that are removedby sliding the members endwise over the free ends of the strands, thehair to be intertwined is divided into a number of strands equal to thenumber of guides and at least one of said strands moves in an oppositedirection through its respective guide relative to the movement ofanother of said strands through its respective guide.

12. A device for arranging that portion of a long hair do on the head ofthe user of the device into a predetermined pattern, which portion ofthe hair has been divided into a plurality of individual strandsattached at one end, to the head with the other end of the strand beingfree, comprising a plurality of individual guide means there being oneguide means for each strand to be arranged, a leader means forcooperating with each of said guide means, said leader means beingadapted to engage the free ends of each said respective strands to feedan individual strand through one of said guide means, said plurality ofguide means being adapted to be intertwined into said predeterminedpattern before said strands are fed through said guide means wherebysaid strands upon being fed through said guides may be fed into saidpredetermined pattern, said leader means being removable from the freeends of said respective strands after each strand has been fed to anintertwined relation forming a part of said predetermined pattern, andsaid guide means being adapted to be removed from the intertwinedstrands of hair.

13. A device as in claim 12 wherein said guide means are elongatedtubular means and said leaders are individual elongated hair strandengaging means for extending through the tubular means.

14. A device as in claim 12 wherein said guides and leaders areflexible.

15. A device as in claim 12 wherein said guide means are slipperytubular elements.

16. A device as in claim 12 wherein said guide means includes aplurality of pairs of elongated guide means being intertwined to extendin the same general direction, and at least one pair of said elongatedguide means being intertwined with each other and said number ofelongated guide means to extend in another direction at an appreciableangle with respect to said general direction.

17. A device as in claim 16 wherein two pairs of elongated guide meansare intertwined, one of said pairs being intertwined to extend in onegeneral direction, and a portion of the other of said pairs beingintertwined to extend in a direction at right angles to said generaldirection, and the remaining portion of said other of said pair of guidemeans being braided together with said one pair to extend in saidgeneral direction.

18. A device as in claim 17 wherein the remaining portion of said otherof said pair of guide means is divided to extend in opposite directionsand is joined to the middle portion of said one pair to extend in saidgeneral direction and to be braided together with opposite ends of saidone pair.

1. A method for arranging long hair on the head of a person into anintertwined pattern comprising separating that portion of the hair to beintertwined into individual strands that are attached to the head at oneend with the other end of each strand being free, delivering theseparate strands through individual and intertwined guides to intertwinethe Strands, and removing the guides from the strands to leave the hairstrands intertwined.
 2. A method as in claim 1 wherein the guides areremoved from the strands by sliding the guides over the free ends of theintertwined strands.
 3. A method as in claim 1 wherein the guides areflexible tubular members and the tubes are removed by sliding the tubesendwise over the free ends of the strands.
 4. A method as in claim 1wherein the individual guides are elongated and have spaced-apart ends,said guides being disposed to each receive a separate strand into one ofthe respective spaced-apart ends of separate ones of said intertwinedguides, and said strands are delivered through said separate guides. 5.A method as in claim 1 wherein a separate strand in one of said guidesmoves in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of another ofsaid strands as said strands are delivered through their respectiveguides.
 6. A method as in claim 4 wherein the intertwined guides arearranged in a braided pattern and certain of said separate strands movein opposite directions through adjacent guides relative to the movementof others of said strands in their respective guides.
 7. A method as inclaim 4 wherein the guides are tubular members and the individual tubesare removed by sliding the tubes endwise over the free ends of thestrands.
 8. A method as in claim 7 wherein the guides are flexible,tubular members arranged in a braided, intertwisted pattern and separatestrands move through adjacent guides.
 9. A method as in claim 8 whereinthe strands move in opposite directions through adjacent guides.
 10. Amethod as in claim 1 wherein at least one pair of guides are providedand the hair to be intertwined is divided into a number of strands equalto the number of guides.
 11. A method as in claim 1 wherein at leastthree guides are provided and the guides are elongated flexible tubularmembers that are removed by sliding the members endwise over the freeends of the strands, the hair to be intertwined is divided into a numberof strands equal to the number of guides and at least one of saidstrands moves in an opposite direction through its respective guiderelative to the movement of another of said strands through itsrespective guide.
 12. A device for arranging that portion of a longhair-do on the head of the user of the device into a predeterminedpattern, which portion of the hair has been divided into a plurality ofindividual strands attached at one end, to the head with the other endof the strand being free, comprising a plurality of individual guidemeans there being one guide means for each strand to be arranged, aleader means for cooperating with each of said guide means, said leadermeans being adapted to engage the free ends of each said respectivestrands to feed an individual strand through one of said guide means,said plurality of guide means being adapted to be intertwined into saidpredetermined pattern before said strands are fed through said guidemeans whereby said strands upon being fed through said guides may be fedinto said predetermined pattern, said leader means being removable fromthe free ends of said respective strands after each strand has been fedto an intertwined relation forming a part of said predetermined pattern,and said guide means being adapted to be removed from the intertwinedstrands of hair.
 13. A device as in claim 12 wherein said guide meansare elongated tubular means and said leaders are individual elongatedhair strand engaging means for extending through the tubular means. 14.A device as in claim 12 wherein said guides and leaders are flexible.15. A device as in claim 12 wherein said guide means are slipperytubular elements.
 16. A device as in claim 12 wherein said guide meansincludes a plurality of pairs of elongated guide means being intertwinedto extend in the same general direction, and at least one pair of saidelongated guide means being intertwined with each other and sAid numberof elongated guide means to extend in another direction at anappreciable angle with respect to said general direction.
 17. A deviceas in claim 16 wherein two pairs of elongated guide means areintertwined, one of said pairs being intertwined to extend in onegeneral direction, and a portion of the other of said pairs beingintertwined to extend in a direction at right angles to said generaldirection, and the remaining portion of said other of said pair of guidemeans being braided together with said one pair to extend in saidgeneral direction.
 18. A device as in claim 17 wherein the remainingportion of said other of said pair of guide means is divided to extendin opposite directions and is joined to the middle portion of said onepair to extend in said general direction and to be braided together withopposite ends of said one pair.